GENEVA, 18 October 2011 (UNHCR) – Industrialized countries saw a 17 per cent increase in asylum applications in the first half of this year, with most claimants coming from countries with longstanding displacement situations. This is according to a report released today by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

As application rates normally peak during the second half of the year, UNHCR forecasts that 2011 may see 420,000 applications by year's end – the highest total in eight years.

2011 has so far seen major forced displacement crises in West, North, and East Africa. The report finds related increases in asylum claims among Tunisians, Ivorians, and Libyans (4,600, 3,300 and 2,000 claims respectively) but overall, the impact of these events on application rates in industrialized countries has been limited.

"2011 has been a year of displacement crises unlike any other I have seen in my time as High Commissioner," said António Guterres, head of UNHCR. "Their impact on asylum claims in industrialized countries seems to have been lower so far than might have been expected, as most of those who fled went to neighbouring countries. Nonetheless we are grateful that the industrialized states have continued to respect the right of people to have their claims to asylum heard."

By continent, Europe registered the highest number of claims with 73 per cent of all asylum applications in industrialized countries. Only Australasia saw a significant decline in applicants: 5,100 claims compared with 6,300 a year earlier.

By country, the United States had more claims (36,400) than any other industrialized nation, followed by France (26,100), Germany (20,100), Sweden (12,600), and the United Kingdom (12,200). The Nordic region was the only part of Europe to see a fall in asylum applications. Meanwhile, in Northeast Asia applications more than doubled – 1,300 claims were lodged in Japan and South Korea compared to 600 in the first half of 2010.